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New Democratic Candidates Emerge In The 2020 Race

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New Democratic presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick files to have his name listed on the New Hampshire primary ballot Thursday in Concord, N.H. At left is New Hampshire Secretary of State Bill Gardner and at right is Patrick's wife, Diane. (Charles Krupa/AP)
New Democratic presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick files to have his name listed on the New Hampshire primary ballot Thursday in Concord, N.H. At left is New Hampshire Secretary of State Bill Gardner and at right is Patrick's wife, Diane. (Charles Krupa/AP)

A narrowed down Democratic presidential field of candidates will take the debate stage this week, but still new candidates are jumping in the race. What the Democratic establishment thinks the pool of candidates is missing, and their fear of President Trump winning re-election.

Guests

Angela Rye, CEO and principal of the political advocacy group IMPACT Strategies. CNN political commentator. (@angela_rye)

Anthony Brooks, senior political reporter for WBUR. (@anthonygbrooks)

Xochitl Hinojosa, communications director for the Democratic National Committee. (@XochitlHinojosa)

From The Reading List

Wall Street Journal: "Democrats’ Jitters Lead Bloomberg, Patrick to Give Race Second Look" — "No dominant front-runner. Sky-high stakes in the 2020 election against President Trump. Fast-approaching filing deadlines and looming votes in early states.

"Those factors are converging in the topsy-turvy 2020 Democratic presidential race, prompting former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and ex-Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick to consider making late entries into the crowded primary field.

"The potential enlarged slate of candidates is shaking up a race that has seen former Vice President Joe Biden holding a nominal lead in national polls but losing ground against rivals such as Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.

"That jumbled state of play is leading Mr. Bloomberg, a billionaire who could inject hundreds of millions of dollars into the campaign, and Mr. Patrick, an African-American Bain Capital executive with close ties to former President Obama, to reconsider earlier decisions ruling out 2020 campaigns."

Politico: "Michael Bloomberg, Deval Patrick blindside Dem primary field" — "The center of the Democratic Party is throwing a fit.

"The party’s moderate wing has suddenly produced back-to-back threats of Michael Bloomberg and Deval Patrick entering the presidential primary, revealing its determination to have an imposing presence in a race shaped by unrestrained liberal policy prescriptions and candidates.

"The two potential candidates are expressions of the deep concern voiced by Democratic Party insiders and donors that the moderate frontrunner in the race, Joe Biden, is flawed and in danger of losing to a progressive alternative, Sen. Elizabeth Warren.

"At a bare minimum, Bloomberg and Patrick stand to complicate — and potentially lengthen — the campaign."

New York Times: "Why Bloomberg and Deval Patrick Changed Their Minds About 2020" — "It was late summer and the Democratic presidential primary was in flux. Joseph R. Biden Jr. was sinking in national polls and Senator Elizabeth Warren was on the rise. And two men, Michael R. Bloomberg and Deval Patrick, were again thinking quietly about running for president.

"They had both ruled out entering the race over the winter. Mr. Bloomberg, the former New York City mayor, had conducted polling and focus groups and concluded it was not worth challenging a rival as strong as Mr. Biden. Mr. Patrick, the former governor of Massachusetts, had confronted a family illness — his wife was diagnosed with cancer — and new scrutiny of his business record. He, too, opted out of the race.

"But over time, they both developed second thoughts. Critical of Mr. Biden’s campaign, Mr. Bloomberg asked his aides to bring updated polling information gauging his prospects. Mr. Patrick began expressing unease to friends about whether the existing crop of candidates could unite the Democratic Party after the primary, or heal a divided country after the general election."

This program aired on November 18, 2019.

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